


Five Time The Chime Seduced Cass and One Time Ey Seduced Them Back

by PFDiva



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Age Difference, Cass being too sexy for eir own good, Chime OT4, F/M, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 13:54:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13836144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PFDiva/pseuds/PFDiva
Summary: It's a 5+1 of seduction and silliness and I know even know what to tell you.





	Five Time The Chime Seduced Cass and One Time Ey Seduced Them Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [harpydora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/gifts).



> This is before the Kingdom game and before Jacqui Green. I'm still not all the way caught up on this arc, but I don't have to be to write this, so bite me. Also, I'm pretty sure this is one of the longest pieces I've ever written for ANY fandom, much less this one. FatT is So Good.

ONE

Cass has eir feet up in the med bay, reading a trashy Apostolistian novel from eir youth on a datapad when the door opens, revealing Mako. The Chime are between jobs right now, and not in need of money at the moment, but Cass still instinctively checks to make sure that Mako is not visibly bleeding or injured in any way. He's not.

"Hi, can I help you?"

Mako beams at Cass and Cass is immediately suspicious. This is compounded by Mako striding across the med bay, drawling a greeting, "Cass, buddy, hey...!"

Cass shuts down the datapad, resting it in eir lap and heaving a sigh, "Mako, what do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything?" Mako is close enough to Cass that Cass takes eir feet off the chair ey'd been using to for a footstool. Distressingly, Mako takes this as an invitation to sit down, far too close for comfort. Cass tries to ignore eir discomfort, but it's a hot squirm in eir belly that makes em stammer miserably.

"That's the voice you use when you--I mean--you always sound like that when you're trying to, uh, umm, get one over on somebody."

Mako leans in, still grinning broadly, "Oh, I'm definitely not trying to get anything over on _you._  More like I'm trying to get you over me!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Cass huffs.

"Doesn't it?" Mako waggles his brows in an outrageous manner, "Think about it. Doesn't it _really_?"

Mako is too close and Cass leans away, irritated now, "Mako, leave me alone. Whatever you're trying to do or get from me, it's not going to work--"

"You don't even know what I want--"

"I just want to read my book in peace--Mako!"

Mako grabs Cass's arm, pulling himself closer to Cass to reach for the datapad and exclaiming, "Ooh, whatcha reading?"

Mako is almost in Cass's lap when Cass stumbles to eir feet, nearly dropping the datapad in eir attempt to get away, the chair crashing to the floor behind em.

"Mako, what do you want?!"

Mako has finally stopped advancing on Cass and frowns his annoyance. "I just wanted to hang out with you, man."

"You could have just _said_  that."

"Yeah, but I don't mean it like...just hanging out. I was kinda trying to create, y'know, an _atmosphere_  and everything. You and me, you know?"

Oh.

It's not like the thought has never occurred to Cass. Mako is incredibly attractive. And young. Cass is almost 40 and Mako has to be in his early 20's, at the oldest. He's so young. Even if he's not that young, he certainly acts it.

"Why would you want...?" Cass begins, not completely certain this isn't a prank.

Mako lifts one shoulder in a shrug that fails to be careless, his eyes not meeting Cass's, "You're smart. That's hot. And then there's your face, which is nice. And you've got nice...nice hands. Gentle."

Cass looks down at eir own hands, splaying eir fingers and thoughtfully balling them into a fist. "I wouldn't exactly call my hands gentle, but I guess I do my best not to hurt you more when I'm patching you up."

A small, slow smile is curving Mako's lips and Cass unexpectedly feels heat suffusing eir face in response to that smile. It's Cass's turn to look away, clearing eir throat before lifting the datapad at Mako, "It's Apostolistian. And old. From back when I was a kid."

"Nostalgia value?" Mako asks, worming his way into Cass's arms so that he can look at the datapad.

"Mako, can't you let me at least sit down?"

"Only if you let me sit with you." Cass can see Mako's grin in the booting datapad's screen. This is a terrible idea and Cass is far too weak-willed.

"Fine," Cass huffs, pushing Mako away enough to pick up the chair so that ey can sit down. Ey expect Mako to sit with his back against eir chest, but Mako, brazen asshole that he is, straddles Cass's lap, plopping down onto eir thighs with a grin.

"This is stupid," Cass objects, using eir toes to pull the other chair closer while Mako makes a show of trying to read the Apostolistian words by turning the datapad in all different directions.

"What are you talking about? This is _intimate!_ A personal moment between the two of us!"

"Can you even read Apostolistian?"

"I can read Apostolistian code."

Cass takes the datapad from Mako, "I'm taking that as a no."

"That's probably smart."

"I'm a smart guy."

"You are."

Cass looks up from the datapad to find Mako smiling at em. Gently. That hot squirm in Cass's belly makes a reappearance.

"I'm a lot older than you."

"I'm a big boy. I think I can handle myself. We'll keep it light. Easy. No strings. Promise."

Cass thoughtfully fidgets with the datapad, "No strings?"

"None." Mako looks smugly pleased, and Cass lets him take the datapad out of eir hands and set it aside. "So just chill, man. Enjoy."

Mako's hands are warm sliding up Cass's chest, and Mako's leaning closer. Cass can just let this happen. Or ey can participate and **not**  be an asshole. Ey'll go with the latter.

Cass wraps one arm around Mako's waist, tangling eir fingers in Mako's hair to pull him in for the kiss Mako's been leading up to for the last several minutes. It's good. Mako tastes like cheap spaceport food and something sharp and bright. And he's either made it with an Apostolistian before, or he's done some research, because he knows exactly the right way to touch the sensitive gills on Cass's neck, making em gasp into Mako's mouth and grip him even tighter.

In fact, everything would be perfect if not for Aria's startled yelp. "Oh! Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that you two were--!"

Cass breaks the kiss in time to see Aria's flushed-pink face a split-second before she whips around, turning her back on the both of them.

"Hey Aria," Mako casually greets her from Cass's lap, making Cass regret **everything**. Mako is such an ass.

"I'm just gonna--" Aria stammers, beating a hasty retreat, even as Cass calls out to her to wait.

"Just leave her, she'll be fiiiine," Mako drawls.

Cass huffs and puts eir feet down again, carefully pushing Mako out of eir lap, "No, she came here for a reason--she needs something."

Mako leers at Cass as he got to his feet, "I could tell you what it is that she needs...!"

"Mako!"

"What? I'm just _saying!"_

Cass huffs and stalks after Aria.

~~~~~~~~~~

TWO

Cass finds Aria powerwalking down the hall to her bedroom.

"Aria!" Her head turns enough for Cass to see that her face is still flushed, but not enough to catch her expression before she jerks her head back around. The brief hitch in her stride is enough for Cass to catch up with her and block her progress.

"Aria, I'm sorry. That was unprofessional of me to be doing in the med bay and you shouldn't have had to walk in on that."

Aria's lips briefly pinch in frustration, her eyes darting to eir face, before she resumes gazing down the hall, over eir shoulder.

"That's not," she begins, then bites her lip, slumping into an uncertain curve, "That doesn't really factor here? You weren't making out on the operating table or anything."

"I wouldn't have let that happen," Cass assures Aria, "And I know I'd be wondering about that, but I promise that was the first time Mako and I have _ever_  kissed, much less in the med bay."

That makes Aria perk up and turn a surprisingly hopeful smile on Cass, "...really?"

What the hell? Cass has to be misreading this, but ey were suddenly aware of how close ey were standing to Aria. Ey take a nervous step back. "Yeah. He just, out of the blue, came to spend time with me. Said I have nice hands."

Cass lifts eir hands, palms out, to show Aria, huffing out a laugh while she giggles along.

Then she looks up at em through her lashes, "You do, you know."

"I do what?"

"Have nice hands." Aria reaches out to grasp Cass's hands, her thumbs caressing eir palms, the contrast between her flesh thumb and her metal thumb making Cass shiver, "They're strong. Elegant. Like you." She takes a step closer to Cass, the look on her face eager and expectant.

W H A T ?

"Aria, you _can't_ be saying what I think you're...?"

"Why can't I?"

"I'm way older than you!" Cass yelps, "Like, more than a decade older!"

Aria's face hardens with determination and she's stepping forward again, forcing Cass to take another step back, "You trust me to take care of myself in battle, don't you?"

"I, I do."

"And when we're finding information for a mission, right?"

"Of course."

"So why not this?"

Aria forces Cass back, step by step, question by question, until ey're pinned against the corridor wall, hands held captive in hers, the detailing on her jacket digging into Cass's chest through eir jumpsuit.

"I don't understand!" Cass wails, "First Mako and now you--what is so attractive about ME?"

Aria pouts, leaning more heavily against Cass, "....everything. You're a great pilot, an amazing fighter, a great tactician, you're just...you're so amazing, Cass. You really are."

Aria is a beautiful young woman--an amazing pilot and fighter, and several magnitudes less of a pain than Mako. Cass has no idea how to respond to this praise, but that hot squirm in eir belly makes an inconvenient reappearance.

"Aria, I. Mako..."

"He won't mind," Aria insists, leaning up, "We were...talking. He and I. We agreed about your hands."

It should be insanely humiliating that Mako and Aria were talking about Cass behind eir back, but it's not. It's really not. That hot squirm in Cass's belly turns into liquid heat warming Cass from the inside out.

"The two of you were talking about  _me?"_

Aria bashfully nods. She's being cutesy, which really should be at least as suspect as Mako being friendly, but Cass has already given up.

"We both know there's no chance of either of us being your Mx. Right. You're a lot older than us. And also kind of a prince?"

"Kind of, but not really," Cass halfheartedly objects.

"But still kind of."

"Still kind of," ey concede.

Aria nods decisively, "Right. So neither of us could really be your Mx. Right, but there's nothing wrong with Mx. Right Now, is there?"

"Ahh," Cass fumbles for a response. Eir crewmates, young attractive people who should really be far more interested in each other than in em, are both propositioning em. Aria's face is inches from eirs.

"No strings," Aria offers, in an echo of Mako's words, "Just easy. Fun."

"Fun," Cass breathes, stalling. Aria's looking at eir mouth with intent, her gaze sliding from eir mouth to eir eyes. Waiting. Cass exhales. Nods, minutely.

Aria's kiss is entirely different from Mako's. Less frenzied. The softness of her lips makes Cass realize how chapped Mako's were. How chapped eir own are. Whatever fruity gloss she's got on her lips makes them glide smoothly against Cass's, and her body is warm pressing Cass's against the wall. She doesn't let Cass's hands go, and ey are only a little surprised by how much ey enjoy being her captive.

When Aria breaks the kiss, Cass is breathless and panting, and Aria isn't much better. She smiles and guilt punches Cass in the chest. Aria says that Mako won't mind, that they've talked about this, but Cass suddenly isn't sure anymore, nor are ey certain ey want to try and juggle two relationships with coworkers.

Aria must be able to see Cass's thoughts on eir face, because her smile fades into concern, "What?"

"Anxiety."

"Oh." She squeezes eir hands reassuringly, then lets go and steps back, "You need time to think?"

"Please."

She chews on her lip for a moment before giving Cass a brief nod. When she heads for her room this time, Cass doesn't stop her. Ey spend a long time looking at eir hands before it occurs to em, with a laugh, that Mako was right. Asshole.

~~~~~~~~~~

THREE

It's not accurate to say that Cass avoids Mako and Aria over the next few weeks, because ey don't. Ey just don't have anything to say yet. Aria and Mako must have been discussing em, because Mako doesn't show up for an encore to that first kiss. Cass is more disappointed than ey expect to be about that.

Things do change around the Kingdom Come, though. Aria offers Cass more reassuring smiles, for any reason or none at all; Mako feels more entitled to occupy space with Cass, and when ey offer no opposition to either, Mako and Aria take each others' cues to the point that Cass's time on the ship is soon filled with physical affection and smiles in a way it very much never was before.

It's a little overwhelming. On the plus side, neither Mako nor Aria fight over Cass's time or attention. Not even in jest. Both are responsive to Cass's comfort level, giving em space when ey need it. They both already knew em fairly well, so the changes in interactions are not dramatic, except to Cass. Cass also becomes aware of how much attention Aria and Mako give each other, and it's rather a lot. The pair are comfortable with one another, one usually climbing off of em to sprawl on the other. It's all very reassuring.

Even so, it's still nice that Cass often has an excuse to escape them in the form of AuDy. There's no rhyme or reason that Cass can discern for AuDy grabbing Cass and bodily taking em to another room, but it's another oddity that Cass doesn't object to. Sometimes AuDy has legitimate reasons to require Cass's company. It's not like the Chime stop working just because of weird emotional circumstances, after all.

But more frequently, AuDy simply brings Cass to the cockpit, setting em in one of the detached chairs and running the Kingdom Come's diagnostics. Cass takes the time to run diagnostics of Megolaphile when necessary, and other work when not necessary. Sometimes, when AuDy doesn't need Cass for legitimate work, AuDy brings Cass to the med bay and sits in front of the closed door. Cass takes the opportunities to read eir books, sometimes even aloud for AuDy's listening pleasure.

Today, AuDy has literally carried Cass to eir bedroom, gently depositing Cass in eir bed. Since Cass's prior circumstances were under a bickering pile of Mako and Aria, this is something of a relief, and Cass flops back with a breathless little laugh.

"You're a life-saver, AuDy."

"Your life was not in danger from Mako and Aria," AuDy objects, literal-minded as always.

Cass sits up, kicking off eir shoes, "Not what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

"I mean," Cass patiently explains, "That I am grateful for the break from those two, but I didn't know how to ask for it."

"You do not wish to be lovers with them?"

Cass about swallows eir tongue, finally letting out a strangled, _"What?!"_

AuDy sits on the floor against Cass's closed bedroom door, "Mako and Aria are attempting to convince you to take them as lovers, are they not?"

"You _know_  about that?"

"I have very good hearing on the ship," AuDy offers by way of explanation. Cass throws emself back in bed, covering eir face with eir arm.

"Well...shit."

"Was it a secret?"

"Nnno? I mean, I wasn't trying to keep it secret, I just. Didn't think you'd notice. Or care."

"Mako and Aria are trying to convince you to take them as lovers." It's explanation enough for both why AuDy would notice and why AuDy would care. Three out of the four crew members are suddenly behaving abnormally, and if they succeeded, it could severely imbalance the group's dynamics.

Cass heaves a sigh, then peers at AuDy from beneath eir arm, "Is that why you've been grabbing me at random these last couple weeks?"

"I don't want to become your lover. I am not capable of having a lover." That wasn't really an answer.

Cass lay on eir side, curling towards the door and AuDy, "Can you feel jealousy? Or neglected?" Cass was genuinely curious, but also suspected the answer to that question would teach em something new about AuDy.

AuDy went silent in that emotive way which communicated that AuDy was absorbed in thought. After a moment, AuDy shifts towards Cass to indicate attentiveness, "I am not capable of having a lover."

Cass's eyes widen in response to AuDy's words. Not being capable wasn't the same as lacking the desire. And it wasn't a repetition of AuDy's earlier words, not a full one.

"Do you...I mean, would you want a lover if you _were_  capable of having one?"

AuDy shuts down. Cass laughs to emself, incredulous. AuDy is jealous of Mako and Aria! And, less amusingly, wants Cass's attention as well. AuDy still has so much to learn, and Cass wants AuDy to learn it from em.

Cass lays back in bed, pondering Mako and Aria. They can learn from Cass, but that really isn't what they were after, either of them. They just want to invite Cass to join them. Maybe...just maybe Cass can learn something from them.

~~~~~~~~~~

FOUR

Cass stumbles into Mako's room behind the Stratus, smiling to emself. After AuDy lets Cass out of eir room, Cass informs Mako and Aria that ey are amiable to the others' attentions. Aria leaves a bright pink lipstick mark on Cass's cheek, and Mako grabs Cass by the hand, dragging em into Mako's room.

It's a mess, and Cass pointedly looks around before arching a brow at an unrepentant Mako, "What? It's my room, it can look how I want it to!"

"I didn't say anything," Cass teases.

Mako crowds Cass up against the door, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Kissing Mako is the same whirlwind it was before and Cass becomes  _very_  certain Mako's made it with an Apostolistian before because he does _everything right._

~~~~~~~~~~

FIVE

Aria gives Mako space to have Cass to himself for a while. When they are climbing down from their mechs a few days later, she invites Cass to her room. "After we shower, of course."

"Of course," ey agree. Aria kisses Cass, and in eir private bathroom, Cass finds that eir lips are bright pink from her lipstick again.

Going to Aria's room isn't at all as strange as Cass might have feared. Her room is nowhere near as frilly as Cass might have thought it'd be, and though she's certainly never had an Apostolistian lover before, she's not inexperienced. Cass finds emself covered in bright pink lipstick the next morning. It is, as promised, fun.

Even when Mako pokes Cass in a missed lipstick stain.

*************

PLUS ONE

Finishing a mission is always a harrowing time: there are mechs to repair, Aria usually manages to get herself hurt some way, and even after the payment is given, they can't always get what they need because they've usually managed to upset someone and have to lay low for a while.

In the immediate aftermath of the mission, Cass patches up Aria. Once she's stable enough to leave the med bay, Cass drags Mako into eir room and refamiliarizes eirself with Mako's skills. Either through a quirk of biology or just because Cass is in an interesting mood, Mako is the one worn out this time and Cass remains awake to take a quick shower before leaving the room to burn off some nervous energy.

AuDy patches the Kingdom Come and Cass joins in silence. After a few hours, Cass yawns, "If you were capable of having a lover, I'd like to be yours. Since you're not capable, just know that I enjoy my time with you as much as I enjoy my time with Aria or Mako."

AuDy manages to look surprised without having a face and Cass pats AuDy's shoulder, "Don't stay up too late." Ey head out. The nervous energy is finally beginning to dissipate, but ey still want to check on Aria one last time.

Cass opens Aria's door, assuming her to be asleep, and finds Aria browsing the mesh in her panties in bed.

Cass turns eir back with a startled, "Sorry!" Aria laughs.

"It's okay. You've seen it all already."

"I was _invited_  to before."

"You're invited to now." Aria's trying to be tempting, but Cass just got done patching her up.

"You're still injured."

"Don't make me sleep alone?"

Cass relents, looking over eir shoulder at Aria, who is a very alluring sight with a blanket just barely covering her bust and doing nothing to conceal the rest of her. Even her prosthetic arm, as stark as it is, adds to the appeal.

"We're JUST sleeping," Cass insists.

"On my honor as a lady."

Cass chuckles, coming into the room and shutting the door behind eirself, "You think you're sneaky."

Aria grins as she carefully scoots aside for em, "I do."

It takes a little doing to find a position that's comfortable for both of them, in light of Aria's injuries, but they manage it. There's a lot of things the Chime manage to do.  
Always.


End file.
